September 26, 2020
MEDICO-LEGAL PRACTICE IN NIGERIA: BALANCING THE RIGHTS AND LIABILITIES OF PATIENTS AND MEDICAL PRACTITIONERS. **
By Mercy Agbo (Associate)
Introduction
The COVID 19 pandemic has put the world today on a standstill. Businesses and human activities have been put on hold for the life of mankind to be preserved. It is safe to say that health practitioners especially, medical doctors are at the forefront of this battle and there is need to preserve a continuous and friendly relationship between them and patients. It is established law that doctors owe a sacrosanct medical duty of care to their patients which requires a high degree of skill and competence; otherwise, liability for medical negligence may arise. However, given certain circumstances, it is not easily determinable when negligence is said to have arisen as instanced where due to the COVID 19 pandemic, most doctors may be scared and decide not to attend to sick persons especially those who show symptoms of the virus, where a patient dies in the course of being treated or out of improper diagnosis by the doctor or hospital.
This article, therefore, tends to answer the posers: whether a medical doctor can refuse to treat a patient? Whether the patients have any right? Whether a medical doctor or a hospital can be liable for negligence? by focusing on the duties and responsibilities of medical practitioners vis a vis the rights of patients with a discuss on medical negligence, its elements and remedial actions that can be brought up in the case of a breach.
September 24, 2020
KMO LEGAL NEWSLETTER – SEPTEMBER 2020 (VOL. 1)
CRYPTOCURRENCY: REGULATION OF DIGITAL ASSETS IN NIGERIA
BY Ruth Nwankwo (Associate), Akorede Folarin (Associate)
and Ugochukwu Okekeatu (Trainee Associate)
INTRODUCTION
Cryptocurrency is no longer a new concept in the global economy. In fact, cryptocurrency adoption and activities are on the rise all over the world. Cryptocurrency has been defined simply as a digital or virtual currency that is secured by cryptograph. It has been considered to be a digital medium of exchange, based on the principles of cryptography allowing performance of secure, decentralized and distributed economic transactions. It is essentially electronic cash.
Bitcoin was the first cryptocurrency to be created and launched in 2009 and so far, more cryptocurrencies have been introduced such as Litecoin, Peercoin, Namecoin, Ethereum, Cardona, EOS, Tron etc. According to the Chainalysis 2020 Geography of Cryptocurrency Report, which is the first ever attempt at a comprehensive country-level breakdown of global cryptocurrency activity, cryptocurrency is now a global phenomenon. In fact, the following countries, with Nigeria at the 8th position, were ranked top ten (10) out of 154 countries on the 2020 Global Crypto Adoption Index; they are Ukraine, Russia, Venezuela, China, Kenya, United States of America, South Africa, Nigeria, Colombia and Vietnam. According to this report, the index is a testament to the buzz around cryptocurrency as an investment and especially in the developing world as a means of value storage and medium of exchange. The index also showed that developing countries have high grassroots cryptocurrency activity.
Prior to now, there was no existing regulation on digital assets like cryptocurrency although regulatory authorities have shown interest in the developments in this sector for a while. In 2019, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) set up the Fintech Roadmap Committee of the Nigerian Capital Market to analyze the impact of fintech on investments and securities in Nigeria and to make recommendations on possible regulatory moves. One of the recommendations in the Final Report of the Committee is that the SEC should be responsible for the regulation of Virtual Financial Assets (VFAs) Exchanges in Nigeria and the regulatory framework. Consequently, SEC released a draft document to regulate digital assets but some industry players insisted that while it was a good move, it was too early to commence regulation of stakeholders in the sector, investors and dealers alike.
September 1, 2020
KMO LEGAL NEWSLETTER – AUGUST 2020 (VOL. 3)
A COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW OF THE COMPANIES AND ALLIED MATTERS ACT 2020
It came as great news indeed that President Muhammadu Buhari has finally signed the Companies and Allied Matters (Repeal and Re-enactment) Bill into law as the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) 2020 after what seemed like forever.1 The extant Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) had been in operation for 30 years without any substantial improvement despite constant developments in the global corporate practice landscape, and had over time become outdated. This has inevitably presented obstacles to the seamless incorporation and operation of businesses in the country, especially when compared with what is obtainable globally.
The signing into law of the new CAMA is, therefore, undoubtedly one of the most impactful business/economic upheavals in the country in the past three decades.2 It will help to implement a catalytic modern regulatory framework for businesses while also improving the country’s ease of doing business and achieving global competitiveness in line with the Federal Government’s Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP 2017 – 2020) which targets Nigeria ranking in the top 70 in the World Bank’s Doing Business Index by 2023.3
Against this background, this article highlights the prime imports of the Act.
